International School Sport Federation


The International School Sport Federation is an international sports governing body for school sport. Founded in 1972 with 21 signatory nations, the federation has been organising international competitions to encourage education through sport and student athletes. It has 113 members from five continents.
ISF is recognised by the International Olympic Committee since 1995 and is a member of SportAccord. Its headquarters are based in Brussels, Belgium.
ISF limits itself to activities with school children between the ages of 13 to 18. This distinguishes its role from the longer-established International University Sports Federation, which governs student sport from the ages of 17 to 25.
There are currently 45 recognised ISF sports, with many of them having their own World Schools Championship every two years. Other sport disciplines are part of the Gymnasiade, also known as School Summer Games, its winter edition School Winter Games or ISF Combat Games.
The first official ISF championships were in football and volleyball, which both took place in 1972, athletics, basketball, handball and skiing championships followed a year later.
The foremost competition held by the ISF is the Gymnasiade – a biennial multi-sport event first held in 1974 in Wiesbaden, Germany that featured athletics, gymnastics and swimming events.

History

Around the mid 1960s, international sporting contests between schools has been increasing. Besides occasional and haphazard meetings between two or more schools, tournaments were beginning to be organised regularly in different disciplines: in handball from 1963, in volleyball from 1969, in football one year later and from 1971 also in basketball. Each of these annual tournaments produced basic regulations and a standing committee.
The large number of international competitions requiring eliminating heats at the national level soon gave rise to a desire to co-ordinate these events, within a specific International Federation. To help promote this idea, the Federal Minister of Education and Arts of the Republic of Austria convened a Conference at Raach in the Autumn of 1971. Here the conditions were discussed for setting up a European School Sport Federation.
After very lengthy debates, the project was approved. However, bearing future development possibilities in mind, the ISF was not limited to European countries alone. A Provisional Committee, the members of which were chosen from among the 21 nations present, was set up, and the meeting of the constituent General Assembly was fixed for 4 June 1972 at Beaufort/Luxembourg. This meeting adopted the Statutes and proceeded to elect the members of the first Executive Committee.

Vision and Values

Sport can greatly contribute to the physical, social and intellectual development of youngsters. Sport is a prevailing tool for the promotion of mutual understanding, peace and tolerance. The power of sport can break down cultural, religious and ideological barriers, no matter how big.

ISF Structure

ISF General Assembly

The General Assembly brings together ISF’s school sport federation members which meet every two years. In the assembly, members elect Executive Committee members for a four-year period, and approves the budget and the programme proposed by the Executive Committee. The most recent General Assembly was held in May 2016 at Marmaris, Turkey.

ISF Management Committee

It meets periodically when convened by the President, to carry out the business of the ISF between meetings of the Executive Committee. Twice a year, the Management Committee meets with the Continental Presidents. Following is the ISF Management Committee for the term 2016–2020.
FUNCTIONNAMECOUNTRY
PresidentLaurent Petrynka
Vice-PresidentYoussef Belqasmi
Vice-PresidentRobson Aguiar
Vice-PresidentXue Yanqing
Secretary General/CEOHrvoje Čustonja
Sports DirectorJosip Košutić

ISF Executive Committee

ISF Executive Committee is composed of 25 members. It meets twice a year to take the decisions necessary for the proper functioning of ISF. Following is the ISF Executive Committee for the term 2016–2020.
FUNCTIONNAMECOUNTRY
PresidentLaurent Petrynka
Vice-PresidentYoussef Belqasmi
Vice-PresidentRobson Aguiar
Vice-PresidentXue Yanqing
Secretary General/CEOHrvoje Čustonja
President AfricaMamadou Souleymane Kone
President AmericaDr. Roger J. Goudy
President AsiaSanti Pawai
President EuropeNicos Megalemos
President OceaniaGraeme Jennings
Sports DirectorJosip Košutić
AssessorAlan Abaev
AssessorAbdulrahman Al-Muftah
AssessorArman Ayvazyan
AssessorMs. Sophie Bordet
AssessorMs. Julia Boyanova
AssessorGuy Dagan
AssessorStylianos Daskalakis
AssessorRoman Greba
AssessorLauri Luik
AssessorAbdoulaye Bamba Mbaye
AssessorRajesh Mishra
AssessorDavid Exovers Ngugi
AssessorNurzhan Nurakhmetov
AssessorZeljko Tanaskovic

ISF Committees

Committees assist and advise the Executive Committee in the overall administration of the ISF. The Committees include:
ISF Sport CommitteeISF Development and Cooperation Committee
ISF Marketing and Communication CommitteeISF Ethic and Legal Committee
ISF Education and Legacy CommitteeISF Athletes and Youth Committee

Gymnasiade

is the biggest school sport event for youth athletes aged 15–18. It is being held every two years, hosts between 12-18 different sport disciplines and welcomes over 3000 pupils from all over the World.

ISF School Summer Games

EditionYearCityCountryDate
11974Wiesbaden23–28 September
21976Orléans21–27 June
31978Izmir18–24 July
41980Turin1 - 7 June
51982Lille1 - 6 June
61984Florence5 - 9 June
71986Nice2 - 7 June
81988Barcelona3–9 June
91990Bruges20–27 May
101994Nicosia14–21 May
111998Shanghai12 -19 October
122002Caen27 May - 3 June
132006Athens/Thessaloniki26 June – 3 July
142009Doha7 – 12 December
152013Brasília28 November – 4 December
162016Trabzon11–18 July
172018Marrakech2–9 May
182020Jinjiang17–24 October

Gymnasiade 2018 hosted 18 sport competitions:
ISF School Winter Games consisted of the following sport disciplines:
EditionYearCityCountryDate
12018Grenoble5–10 February

Source :

ISF Combat Games

ISF Combat Games consist of the following sport disciplines:
EditionYearCityCountryDate
12017Agra7–14 July
22019Budapest16–20 June

From August 22–26, 2018, the first ever World Schools Championships in sambo took place in Oryol, Russian Federation.
Source :

ISF Inclusive Games

http://isfsports.org/inclusive-games-0

ISF Educational Games

http://isfsports.org/educational-games-0

ISF World Schools Championships

Around the 1960’s international sporting contests between schools were on the increase. Besides occasional and haphazard meetings between two or more schools, tournaments were beginning to be organised regularly in different disciplines: in handball from 1963, in volleyball from 1969, in football from 1970 and from 1971 also in basketball.
Today 21 sports have a separate World Schools Championship with 10-12 championships being held per year. Each World Schools Championship usually last from 3–7 days. Yearly, more than 10.0000 pupils from all over the World take part in ISF World Schools Championship. Until 2017, only 21 Sports have a separate World School Championship . Other sports exist in Games and havent separate WSC.
Source :

Members